Free PayPal Money

#1 — Ibotta

With Ibotta, you’ll get paid to shop. First, you’ll complete simple tasks to unlock rewards for purchasing particular products. For example, you might have to watch a 30-second video to unlock $3 cash-back on the purchase of Bounty paper towels. Then, after you purchase the item, just scan your receipt and the bonus will appear in your Ibotta account. You can also link certain store loyalty cards to your account and skip the receipt submission process. Once you accumulate $20 in your account, you can transfer the funds to PayPal.

You can purchase a gift card through the app. (Note that some gift cards require a minimum purchase of $25, as opposed to the standard $20 cashout minimum.)

Minimum Withdrawal Amount:

You’ll need at least $20 to request a withdrawal.

Time to Get Paid:

Funds are dispersed to your PayPal account within 48 hours.

#2 — Swagbucks

Quick Summary:

Swagbucks offers a number of creative opportunities to earn free PayPal money. You can earn points (called SBs) for watching short videos, shopping online, searching the web and answering surveys. Those points are redeemable for PayPal gift cards. Swagbucks may be the best site when it comes to making easy money in your spare time.

Make sure you’re signed up for Swagbucks before your birthday passes, as you’ll get 55 SBs deposited into your account as a gift.

You can earn bonus SBs for hitting weekly and monthly activity goals. In the app, you’ll see a meter showing your progress towards your 7, 14, 21, and 31-day targets. You can earn up to 300 extra SBs per month this way.

Adding the short 10-second videos to your “favorites” list within the app will help you get more of them, which will help you hit your daily points target more quickly.

Once per month, you can redeem your SBs for a $25 gift card at 12% off the face value.

By clicking “Daily Watch” under the “To Do” list, you can earn 100 SBs by letting videos autoplay.

Bookmark the Swagbucks search result for the sites you visit frequently. That way, you’ll earn SBs every time you visit.

You can cash out with as few as 300 SBs, which will earn you a $3 gift card for select retailers. Or you can wait until you’ve reached a minimum of $25 worth of SBs and redeem your points for free PayPal money.

Time To Get Paid:

Once you snag the $25 PayPal gift card, you’ll have to wait 10 to 14 business days for the money to be transferred.

#3 — Ebates

Quick Summary:

With Ebates, you can get up to 40% cash back at over 2,500 stores. You don’t have to worry about points or forms — just use Ebates.com or the Ebates app for your online shopping, and you’ll earn cash back on all of your eligible purchases. Once per quarter (i.e., every four months), you’ll receive a free PayPal money payout.

Consider using the Ebates cash back Visa; you’ll earn an additional 3% on qualifying online purchases through Ebates and 1% cash back everywhere else.

Payment Methods:

You’ll get your cash back in the form of PayPal money or a check (whichever you prefer).

Minimum Withdrawal Amount:

You’ll need to have earned at least $5.01 in cash back to receive your free PayPal money. Otherwise, your balance will carry over into the next period.

Time To Get Paid:

Ebates pays out once every four months. So while it has some of the better cash-back rates you’ll find, it’s not a way to earn quick money and will require a little bit of patience.

#4 — SurveyJunkie

Quick Summary:

If you’re looking for something to do in those random 15-minute stretches of time you have throughout the day, consider taking surveys that pay cash through SurveyJunkie. When we ranked the best survey sites, SurveyJunkie was a clear front runner.

In most cases, redeeming your SurveyJunkie points and getting free PayPal cash is instant. This makes it one of the better options if you need a little bit of money right away.

#5 — PrizeRebel

Quick Summary:

You can sign up for PrizeRebel in less than 10 seconds, start completing surveys immediately, and earn points that are redeemable for PayPal cash (as well as a variety of other gift cards, including Amazon, Walmart and iTunes).

You can receive your money through PayPal, via gift cards to many of your favorite stores, or through a direct deposit to your bank.

Minimum Withdrawal Amount:

You’ll need a balance of at least $2 in order to redeem your points for free PayPal money, or gift cards to places like Amazon and Best Buy.

Time To Get Paid:

You’ll get paid instantly when you redeem your points.

#6 — Prolific

Quick Summary:

Prolific sends you surveys and studies from top companies and universities, which can be a nice change-of-pace from some of the other (more generic) survey content offered by similar services. Additionally, all of Prolific’s surveys pay a minimum of $6.50 per hour. That’s not a lot, but it’s better than many other options.

You’ll earn free PayPal money for every survey you take, or you can transfer funds to a Circle account (which is another peer-to-peer payment service). There’s a small fee when you cash out to PayPal, but the fee is waived if you transfer $25 or more to Circle.

Minimum Withdrawal Amount:

Once your account reaches $6.50, you’ll be able to request payment.

Time To Get Paid:

After you complete a survey, it’s sent back to the researcher for review. Although he or she will have up to 21 days to approve it, you’ll often get approved in one to three days. If the researcher doesn’t approve the survey within 21 days, Prolific automatically releases the funds. Those funds will be sent to your PayPal account within five business days.

#7 — Grindabuck

Quick Summary:

Grindabuck offers 15 different ways to make money from home. You can watch videos, reviews ads, take surveys, try new products, complete microtasks and more. Once you have enough points, you can convert them to PayPal cash. But one of the most unique things about Grindabuck is that you also have the option of getting paid in Bitcoin.

App Rating:

Grindabuck can only be used through its desktop/mobile website — there is no Android or iOS app that is currently available.

Tips To Earn:

Grindabuck offers a small bonus for daily use, so you’ll want to log-in on a consistent basis. There are also a number of monthly achievement bonuses.

Payment Methods:

Grindabuck payouts include PayPal money; Amazon, Walmart and VISA gift cards; as well as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and LiteCoin. Sadly, you can’t cash out for Dogecoin.

Minimum Withdrawal Amount:

There are three “VIP levels” (bronze, silver and gold), and the minimum withdrawal amount ranges from $1 to $10 depending on your level.

#8 — Dosh Rewards

Quick Summary:

With Dosh Rewards, all you have to do is link your debit cards and/or credit cards to your Dosh account, and then use your linked cards at thousands of participating stores and restaurants. Doing so will earn up to 10% cash back, which is automatically deposited into your Dosh Wallet. You can then transfer those funds to your PayPal account, to your bank, or make a donation to charity. That’s the entire process — there are no receipts to upload and no rewards to unlock. It’s literally free money.

Link a credit or debit card that already gives you cash back rewards (like the Chase Freedom Unlimited) so you can double-dip and get twice the cash back.

Payment Methods:

You can transfer funds from your Dosh Wallet to your PayPal account, or set up direct deposit to your bank.

Minimum Withdrawal Amount:

You’ll need a minimum of $25 to request a withdrawal from Dosh.

Time To Get Paid:

It may take up to 10 days for in-store transactions, and up to 30 days for online purchase, for cash back to be credited to your Dosh account. However, many users have noted that transactions typically appear within 24 to 72 hours.

#9 — Sweatcoin

Quick Summary:

If you need a little extra motivation to get out the door and go for a walk, or if you already love walking/running, you may want to take advantage of Sweatcoin. The app was conceived as a fun way to reward people for being physically active with gifts. However, there is one caveat that you need to know up-front: PayPal gift cards are only available on the site occasionally, so if free PayPal money is your goal, you may end up holding onto your Sweatcoins until a redemption opportunity opens up.

Here’s how it works: Every step you take is converted into Sweatcoins. For every 1,000 steps, you’ll earn 0.95 Sweatcoins, which are redeemable for gift cards, app downloads, physical items (including iPhones) and, sometimes, PayPal cash. (There’s a Reddit forum dedicated to Sweatcoins, where you can keep track of the different uses for the virtual “currency.”) It’s easily one of the most unique ways to earn money.

Keep in mind that Sweatcoin does track your usage and location data. (That’s what they’re paying you for, after all.) So that’s a consideration if you’re concerned about privacy. As for what the company does with that data, a recent CBS story noted that “the company hopes to eventually make money through deals with insurance companies, health care providers, and employers who want to motivate their employees to exercise.”

Add the app to your Apple Watch to make sure you’re earning even when you don’t have your phone with you.

Check out their “paid” accounts; for a certain number of Sweatcoins per month, you can change your account level, which will open up more/different earning opportunities.

Payment Methods:

Sweatcoin has a number of unique payment methods, including (occasionally) PayPal. In addition, you’ll be able to redeem your Sweatcoins for goods, experiences and services that range from anti-gravity yoga classes to iPhones and Apple Watches. Or, you can donate your Sweatcoins to charity.

Minimum Withdrawal Amount:

Technically, there are no minimum withdrawal amounts. However, that’s because there’s such a wide-ranging array of payout options, which are constantly changing (and constantly changing in “price”).

Once you redeem your Sweatcoins for an offer like free PayPal money, you’ll get the reward instantly.

Other Ways To Earn PayPal Money

If taking online surveys and cash-back shopping aren’t up your alley, here are a couple of other ways to get money into your PayPal account.

These options tend to be a little bit slower, but they offer bigger payouts.

#10 — Fiverr

Fiverr is a freelance marketplace where people will hire you for almost anything you can imagine. Some of the most popular “gigs” on the site are typical freelance jobs like copywriting, proofreading and graphic design. But there are dozens of other categories, and an almost infinite number of ways to monetize your talent.

When the site first launched, the cost of everything was $5 — hence the name. Today, you can set your prices as you wish (in increments of five). While most freelancers on the site still offer a basic/minimal service for $5, rates for things like illustration, animation, SEO writing and so on are competitive with other freelancing sites. You can earn real money here — $40+ per hour in those particular fields.

Fiverr offers a few different payout options, but the cheapest and most convenient is PayPal. Payments are in “pending” status for 14 days after the completion of a project. Once that period is over, you can transfer them to your PayPal account and use the funds within seconds.

#11 — eBay

eBay can be a great way to get cash into your PayPal account quickly by selling almost anything you have around the house. From used clothes to knickknacks to collectibles, you’ll be shocked at what people will pay for on the site.

Almost 100% of eBay customer use PayPal. When your auction ends or a customer purchases your “Buy it Now” (fixed-price) item, payment is sent directly to your PayPal account. For established eBay sellers, those funds are available instantly. However, for new sellers, PayPal puts a hold on those funds for either 21 days, until the buyer leaves positive feedback, or until tracking shows that the item was delivered. This can be a drawback if you need quick money.

Additionally, PayPal will place a hold on those funds if the customer opens a dispute — which happens surprisingly frequently. I’ve had disputes opened because the item was damaged during transit, delivered to the wrong address, or just because the customer changed his or her mind. In these cases, you’ll have to work to resolve the issue before PayPal will release the funds.

Still, this is one of the better ways to get PayPal money just based on the wide range of items that you transform into cash.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to make a profitable business out of selling on eBay, sign up for Robert and Melissa Stephenson’s free five-day email course on making money flipping items. They made over six figures last year using the techniques they discuss in the course.

#12 — UserTesting.com

With UserTesting.com, you’ll provide feedback to developers about new websites and applications. The company is 100% legit, with well-known clients like Walmart and Adobe. In fact, a recent case example highlighted on the company’s website shows how users helped Adobe fine-tune its latest Creative Cloud tutorials.

The pay is $10 per 20-minutes of testing, and the work is fairly straightforward — you’ll typically watch a short video, visit a website or app, complete a set of simple tasks, and record your feedback via video or audio.

PayPal payments are sent one week after project completion.

Free PayPal Cash – Summary

Short-term, these ideas are fun and a great way to start seeing some deposits in your PayPal account each month.

Long-term, there are better ways to make money — whether online or off.

About The Author

R.J. Weiss is the founder and editor of The Ways To Wealth, a Certified Financial Planner™, husband and father of three. He's spent the last 10+ years writing about personal finance and has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, MSN Money, and other publications.

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